How a teacher greets students, takes care of logistics, and begins his or her lessons is CRUCIAL! During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT beforeclass begins? What is he or she doing? Using the clock on the wall, determine when your CT establishes order and begins class. How did she/he start their lesson? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson? Is the approach your CT used during this lesson consistent with what you read in "Teach Like a Pirate."
Jed O'Malley Westerly High School
Westerly High engages in rotating day and block system, the blocks are 67 minutes long resulting in a 5 block day. Block 4 is lunch and is extended to 79 minutes. The students take seven periods of classes, to accommodate for only having five blocks a day the school has set up a rotating schedule of days that are numbered 1-7 and each day contains five of the seven periods. My CT has one prep block a day and on days 3,6 and 7 he has another block called PLC which is a department meeting type "thing", His word not mine..
In observing my CT I observed that he is always in his room prior to classes starting. He greets the students if not by name then with a to the boys "dude" or asking about a sporting event. He generally begins class within one or two minutes of class start time, in the time between the bell and start of class he will take class attendance, collect any homework that was assigned, return corrected work. My CT brings order to class with a simple "Let's get started", this cues the students that he is ready to begin the content portion of class. It is unfortunate that my CT rarely engages the students at the "beginning" of the lesson; engagement usually occurs with an anecdote or interesting fact within the first five minutes of the lesson. No my CT does not use an approach that is consistent with "Teach Like a Pirate", he is knowledgeable and approachable but is not a "Pirate" in the classroom.
Jed O'Malley
Westerly High School
Westerly High engages in rotating day and block system, the blocks are 67 minutes long resulting in a 5 block day. Block 4 is lunch and is extended to 79 minutes. The students take seven periods of classes, to accommodate for only having five blocks a day the school has set up a rotating schedule of days that are numbered 1-7 and each day contains five of the seven periods. My CT has one prep block a day and on days 3,6 and 7 he has another block called PLC which is a department meeting type "thing", His word not mine..
In observing my CT I observed that he is always in his room prior to classes starting. He greets the students if not by name then with a to the boys "dude" or asking about a sporting event. He generally begins class within one or two minutes of class start time, in the time between the bell and start of class he will take class attendance, collect any homework that was assigned, return corrected work. My CT brings order to class with a simple "Let's get started", this cues the students that he is ready to begin the content portion of class.
It is unfortunate that my CT rarely engages the students at the "beginning" of the lesson; engagement usually occurs with an anecdote or interesting fact within the first five minutes of the lesson. No my CT does not use an approach that is consistent with "Teach Like a Pirate", he is knowledgeable and approachable but is not a "Pirate" in the classroom.